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RE: I may Be the wrong person to answer...

As a contractor, I would always recommend having a pro do it. There are alot of little things like adjustments that need to be done. Timing, opening the water supply slow, are a few more. For the hundred dollars or so it costs, it is well worth it. If a plant dies or a piece of grass dies, what does that cost. Leave it to the pros. Just my thought. http://www.irrigationsolutions.com

If your system is in such bad shape that adjustments are needed to keep from having plants or grass die, then perhaps you do need a professional.

I may Be the wrong person to answer...

As a contractor, I would always recommend having a pro do it. There are alot of little things like adjustments that need to be done. Timing, opening the water supply slow, are a few more. For the hundred dollars or so it costs, it is well worth it. If a plant dies or a piece of grass dies, what does that cost. Leave it to the pros. Just my thought.

Yes, I have a backflow preventer (in fact, I have to schedule it's required annual test this month). I have no drip irrigation, so I won't have to worry there. Thanks for your info. And yes, I am in a cold climate, so must have the pipes blown out each fall.

In theory, it SHOULD be as simple as turning on the main irrigation shut-off valve and turning the controller on.

But it CAN be more complex than that. One big part depends upon what had to be done with the backflow preventor (your system does have a backflow preventer right?). If it was disconnected from the system (something that some people do in cold climates), it would have to be reattatched. If the test cocks were openned for drainage, they would need to be closed before turning on the main shut-off valve. If any of the shut-off valves on the backflow preventer were closed, you would have to open them. If you have a pump, perhaps there are things that have to be done to it before you begin using it for the 1st time of the season. If you have one of these fancy programable controllers that perhaps allows for multiple schedules for different parts of the year, then the controller has to be set for the correct program. Then there is the question of drip irrigation. If there is drip irrigation associated with the system, then there might be drip tubing ends that were left open for drainage purposes that need to be closed.

Otherwise, there is GENERALLY not as many things that can go wrong starting your system back up compared to winterizing it. MOST irrigation systems should be darn near impossible to break by simply turning the system 'ON'. Perhaps the biggest thing is running the system through its paces so that you can check for any damage that has occured over the winter (perhaps from water freezing in a pipe, backflow, or valve that didn't properly get winterized).

About the only thing I can think of that might go wrong is if the system needs some sort of flushing out... and if it doesn't get flushed out, something might get clogged up. An example of that would be if there was drip irrigation included in the system, and drip tube ends were left open. Well, some critters could have climbed in there and taken up residence. You would want to run that drip system with the ends still open to flush out stuff like that before you close it off.